Day Five: Team Revive

Team Revive with Pierre

Today started with the sounds of pouring rain at 5 am.  We knew that meant the roads to Bonnefin would be flooded and we would not be able to travel to Hopital Luminere.  Instead, we searched through wheelchairs previously donated to Medical Teams International for the perfect fit for Pierre.  When we visited with him yesterday, we had taken measurements of his hips, upper legs and back height.  Pierre has a very narrow doorway and limited space in his room for a turning radius.  We used these measurements to carefully select a wheelchair, footrests and custom cushion we had created using a pediatric Roho cushion and foam.  Pierre was able to transfer himself from his high bed with a hospital cushion over to the wheelchair.  He needed some help to negotiate through the tight doorway but with some practice and determination, he will be able to do it on his own.  Anita and Valdora padded the footplates with some foam and duct tape to protect Pierre's feet which are fixed in plantar flexion.  Pierre sat out on the porch with us for 30 mins learning about skin management, pressure relief techniques, wheelchair safety and how to care for the Roho cushion.  After we left Pierre's house, we ate lunch and then packed up the Land Cruiser so we could make our trip to Hopital Luminere in Bonnefin.

Dr. June, Anita, Valdora and Ola showing Pierre how to use the footrests

Ola & Anita with Pierre's finished wheelchair

During our bumpy ride to Bonnefin we had to stop at a difficult crossing while waiting for a dump truck to pass.  A group of men pulled a palate out into the road and would not allow us to pass unless we paid a "toll."  This toll however, was cheaper than it costs to go over the Throgs Neck Bridge so we paid it and kept on our travels.  We were able to reassess a few patients at Hospital Luminere before we had to return to the guest house for dinner.  After dinner,  June and Valdora went tarantula hunting on our walk up to visit with an Apostolic family with five beautiful children.  Once we introduced ourselves the very clever 11-year old girl named Dr. Kaitlyn said to Ola, "Ola, you don't even have to say Hi!"  She also told Anita that she was pretty neat.  We played Skip-Bo and listened to some more silly jokes before we had to head back to the guest house.  We are looking forward to starting off our morning with a devotional and spending the entire day at Hopital Luminere.

-Nicole